Jeremy Corbyn and Hilary Benn at Labour conference in Brighton. Benn’s future could be safe if he agrees to keep any dissent private.
Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images

Jeremy Corbyn has sacked the shadow culture secretary, Michael Dugher, for showing public disloyalty as he wrestles with a reshuffle of Labour’s top team for a second day.

The Labour leader, who is trying to create a more unified shadow cabinet, had only dismissed a single rebel by 7pm on Tuesday, almost 30 hours after he began talks with advisers and colleagues.

Corbyn is still being urged by his allies to sack Hilary Benn, the shadow foreign secretary, but has been warned that up to 10 of his senior team could walk out if Benn is removed.

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In light of the threatened departures, Benn’s future is thought to be safe if he is prepared to promise not to dissent from his leader in public and limit disagreements to private discussions.

But some of Corbyn’s allies are adamant that he should get rid of Benn, warning that he will be at the centre of future rebellions such as over the Syria vote if it is not done now.

One Labour MP said Benn would be a figurehead for repeated shadow cabinet rebellions if he is not removed from the high-profile position.

The leader’s team would not confirm any hirings or firings, but Dugher revealed on Twitter that he had been sacked by telephone because of his public disloyalty.

These include warnings against a “revenge reshuffle” and criticisms of Stop the War and Momentum, the grassroots group of Corbyn supporters.

In a parting swipe, Dugher said he had chosen to speak out because he was “frustrated and angry” at members of Corbyn’s team for briefing the press against other members of the shadow cabinet in a way that amounted to a “terrible trashing of people’s reputations”.

“I thought that was hugely damaging,” he said. “I thought it was really unfair on those people.”

He also called on Corbyn not to promote Emily Thornberry, a shadow minister who was forced to resign as shadow attorney general under Ed Miliband for tweeting a picture of a white van with an England flag, which was interpreted as a sign of snobbery.

Shadow cabinet ministers including the deputy Labour leader, Tom Watson, and the shadow home secretary, Andy Burnham, bemoaned the loss of Dugher, saying he was a strong campaigner who was vital for winning back working-class Labour support in the north of England.

However, there is only likely to be a full revolt within the shadow cabinet if Corbyn decides to sack Benn.

Discussions over Benn’s future were thought to be part of the logjam as the reshuffle continued on Tuesday evening.

Corbyn spent much of the day in his office and was initially expected to announce the results by the time of a scheduled shadow cabinet meeting at 12.45pm.

This was postponed indefinitely and talks continued throughout the afternoon, breaking for Corbyn to appear alongside Benn in the House of Commons for the government’s statement on the EU.

Corbyn focused on the question of the EU, but David Cameron tried to mock the length of time he was taking on the reshuffle.

“Can I apologise for interrupting what’s clearly the longest reshuffle in history?” he said.

“You could have watched the entire run of Star Wars movies, but we still don’t yet know who’s been seduced to the dark side. There’s absolutely no sign of a rebel alliance emerging either, I can see that.”

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Corbyn returned to his office for a while, before heading back to the Commons to be on the frontbench for a debate about the floods and Saudi Arabia.

Labour said Benn remained shadow foreign secretary for now, and all other shadow cabinet ministers were still in their posts, because no changes would occur until the official announcement.

“Everyone’s where they are until it’s announced by the leader. I’m not going to comment on the reshuffle,” a spokesman said.

Another potential cause of a blockage in the discussions was the future of Maria Eagle, the shadow defence secretary.

Ideally, the Labour leader would have a shadow minister in this brief who shares his view on opposing Trident, unlike Eagle, who supports its renewal.

However, he is short of potential candidates on the same page as him over the issue of defence.

One possible candidate, Clive Lewis, a new MP who has served in Afghanistan, has said he does not want the job because being in parliament is a steep learning curve and he wants to “pace himself”.

It is understood that Chris Bryant, the shadow leader of the Commons, is a Trident-sceptic. He offered on Tuesday afternoon to move to the shadow culture brief, potentially freeing up space for Eagle to become shadow leader of the Commons.

Others in the shadow cabinet were speculating that it could be possible for Nia Griffith, the shadow Welsh secretary, or Lisa Nandy, the shadow energy secretary, to move to defence, but Nandy denied that she had been offered it and Griffith is not thought to be interested.